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Teenager's near-fatal accident spotlights dangerous roadway

Adrian Arellano, 14, w will not start his freshman year at Venice High School until Sept. 4 and cannot play with the school's football team again for the foreseeable future. That could not keep him off the field during one of the freshman football team's first games at Booker High School last Wednesday evening.

Published: Sunday, September 1, 2013 at 3:52 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, September 1, 2013 at 3:52 p.m.

Facts

HOW TO HELP

A donation website has been set up to help the Arellano family raise money to cover Adrian's ongoing medical expenses. To donate or learn more, visit http://goo.gl/cT2V8S

The 14-year-old's once shaggy, light-brown hair is now buzzed, with a line of scars snaking around the left side of his head.

A hard cuff sits on his upper arm so broken bones can heal without surgical intervention.

He has 80 to 90 percent hearing loss in his left ear.

But the fact that Adrian is alive is nothing short of miraculous.

Adrian was hit by a pickup truck while he was riding his bike off of the Venice Avenue Bridge on July 29.

The impact of the crash sent Adrian flying head first into the asphalt road, which shattered the left side of his skull. He was not wearing a helmet.

After a helicopter evacuation, two brain surgeries and a badly broken arm, Adrian has made a quick recovery that doctors credit, in part, to his age.

“A young person typically has a better prognosis after an accident like that,” said Sarasota neurosensory Dr. Dan Stein. “Their brains have a better ability to adapt to kinds of trauma.”

Adrian only remembers flashes of his life-changing bike ride.

He was headed to his mother's work after freshman football practice at Venice High School, where he was honing his skills as a wide receiver.

Friends from football practice waved as he pedaled past on the island of Venice.

A fish swam underneath the Venice Avenue bridge as he crossed over the grating.

A car horn blared.

Silence.

Adrian's mother, Jenifer, said she always felt uneasy about her son riding his bike along U.S. 41 but never worried about Venice Avenue.

“I had no idea it was a problem area,” Jenifer said.

But when police reenacted the accident for her, she said she realized how difficult it would have been for Adrian and the driver of the truck to see each other.

From 2008 to the day before Adrian's accident, there were at least 13 bicycle or pedestrian accidents along a mile of Venice Avenue that stretches from Nokomis Avenue in the west to U.S. 41 Bypass in the east.

One of those accidents was fatal, according to the Venice Police Department.

The area surrounding the bridge, along with five areas in Sarasota, were flagged as issue areas in a July bicycle and pedestrian safety plan made by Sarasota County Planning and Development Services.

Jamie Carson, a spokesperson for Sarasota County, said the area near the Venice Avenue bridge was cited by planning officials due to the number of accidents and complaints from Venice residents.

“The area was identified not only because of crash statistics but also community input from web surveys and public meetings.”

She added that the Sarasota County Commission is scheduled to review the new plan Oct. 8.

Jenifer Arellano plans to work with city and county officials to make the area surrounding the Venice Avenue Bridge safer for bicyclists and pedestrians once Adrian recovers.

“I'm going to make sure this gets corrected,” she said.

Jenifer Arellano still has nightmares about the aftermath of Adrian's accident.

Her son laid in the back of an ambulance, his head covered in blood.

She and a friend followed Adrian's ambulance to a waiting helicopter.

“It was like I was in a daze,” Jenifer remembered. “It was almost surreal.”

Adrian's father J.J., who works in Tampa, drove straight to All Children's Hospital, where Adrian was flown.

Adrian was rushed into the operating room for emergency surgery to remove pieces of his shattered skull from the left side of his head.

Tubes drained excess fluid from his brain and a ventilator helped him breathe in his coma-like state.

He had multiple skull fractures, a badly broken arm, a major concussion and two growing pools of blood bordering his brain.

But he was alive, largely because he received surgery soon after the accident.

“It's really hit-or-miss because a patient's prognosis depends how bad they get before the pressure (on the brain) is released,” Dr. Stein said.

Had more time passed, Dr. Stein said, Adrian's brain could have swelled and crowded the brain's stem, which could have killed Adrian or resulted in permanent brain damage.

Doctors eased Adrian out of his coma-state several days after the accident. He talked and even walked before he had a second skull surgery to replace the bone fragments removed during the first operation.

Adrian cannot put his finger on his first memory after the accident, which Dr. Stein said is common after traumatic brain injuries.

He said he remembered two of his friends coming to visit him at the beginning of his stay.

“They came the day before we left the hospital,” Jenifer Arellano reminded Adrian.

But Adrian's sometimes foggy memory and physical recovery is not the biggest strain on the Arellano family.

Jenifer has not worked since Adrian's accident, and J.J. took several weeks off so he could stay by his son's bedside at All Children's.

Although the family missed out on several weeks worth of pay, medical bills continue to pile up.

“Even with insurance, one of the tests he has to get next week is a couple hundred dollars,” Jenifer Arellano said.

Adrian's grandmother set up a donation website for the family to help ease their financial burden.

Still, Jenifer and J.J. still find ways to keep Adrian engaged with his friends between his ongoing MRI scans and check-ups.

He will not start his freshman year at Venice High School until Sept. 4 and cannot play with the school's football team again for the foreseeable future.

That could not keep him off the field during one of the freshman football team's first games at Booker High School last Wednesday evening.

The Venice High School freshmen team gave Adrian a jersey with the number 11 emblazoned on the back. He was tasked with tossing balls to the referee before each play.

As Adrian detailed the Venice offensive line to an onlooker, a Venice wide receiver caught a 20-yard catch and was pummeled by Booker defensive players.

<p><em>VENICE</em> - Adrian Arellano does not look lucky.</p><p>The 14-year-old's once shaggy, light-brown hair is now buzzed, with a line of scars snaking around the left side of his head.</p><p>A hard cuff sits on his upper arm so broken bones can heal without surgical intervention.</p><p>He has 80 to 90 percent hearing loss in his left ear.</p><p>But the fact that Adrian is alive is nothing short of miraculous.</p><p>Adrian was hit by a pickup truck while he was riding his bike off of the Venice Avenue Bridge on July 29.</p><p>The impact of the crash sent Adrian flying head first into the asphalt road, which shattered the left side of his skull. He was not wearing a helmet.</p><p>After a helicopter evacuation, two brain surgeries and a badly broken arm, Adrian has made a quick recovery that doctors credit, in part, to his age.</p><p>“A young person typically has a better prognosis after an accident like that,” said Sarasota neurosensory Dr. Dan Stein. “Their brains have a better ability to adapt to kinds of trauma.”</p><p>Adrian only remembers flashes of his life-changing bike ride.</p><p>He was headed to his mother's work after freshman football practice at Venice High School, where he was honing his skills as a wide receiver.</p><p>Friends from football practice waved as he pedaled past on the island of Venice.</p><p>A fish swam underneath the Venice Avenue bridge as he crossed over the grating.</p><p>A car horn blared.</p><p>Silence.</p><p>Adrian's mother, Jenifer, said she always felt uneasy about her son riding his bike along U.S. 41 but never worried about Venice Avenue.</p><p>“I had no idea it was a problem area,” Jenifer said.</p><p>But when police reenacted the accident for her, she said she realized how difficult it would have been for Adrian and the driver of the truck to see each other.</p><p>From 2008 to the day before Adrian's accident, there were at least 13 bicycle or pedestrian accidents along a mile of Venice Avenue that stretches from Nokomis Avenue in the west to U.S. 41 Bypass in the east.</p><p>One of those accidents was fatal, according to the Venice Police Department.</p><p>The area surrounding the bridge, along with five areas in Sarasota, were flagged as issue areas in a July bicycle and pedestrian safety plan made by Sarasota County Planning and Development Services.</p><p>Jamie Carson, a spokesperson for Sarasota County, said the area near the Venice Avenue bridge was cited by planning officials due to the number of accidents and complaints from Venice residents.</p><p>“The area was identified not only because of crash statistics but also community input from web surveys and public meetings.”</p><p>She added that the Sarasota County Commission is scheduled to review the new plan Oct. 8.</p><p>Jenifer Arellano plans to work with city and county officials to make the area surrounding the Venice Avenue Bridge safer for bicyclists and pedestrians once Adrian recovers.</p><p>“I'm going to make sure this gets corrected,” she said.</p><p>Jenifer Arellano still has nightmares about the aftermath of Adrian's accident.</p><p>Her son laid in the back of an ambulance, his head covered in blood.</p><p>She and a friend followed Adrian's ambulance to a waiting helicopter.</p><p>“It was like I was in a daze,” Jenifer remembered. “It was almost surreal.”</p><p>Adrian's father J.J., who works in Tampa, drove straight to All Children's Hospital, where Adrian was flown.</p><p>Adrian was rushed into the operating room for emergency surgery to remove pieces of his shattered skull from the left side of his head.</p><p>Tubes drained excess fluid from his brain and a ventilator helped him breathe in his coma-like state.</p><p>He had multiple skull fractures, a badly broken arm, a major concussion and two growing pools of blood bordering his brain.</p><p>But he was alive, largely because he received surgery soon after the accident.</p><p>“It's really hit-or-miss because a patient's prognosis depends how bad they get before the pressure (on the brain) is released,” Dr. Stein said.</p><p>Had more time passed, Dr. Stein said, Adrian's brain could have swelled and crowded the brain's stem, which could have killed Adrian or resulted in permanent brain damage.</p><p>Doctors eased Adrian out of his coma-state several days after the accident. He talked and even walked before he had a second skull surgery to replace the bone fragments removed during the first operation.</p><p>Adrian cannot put his finger on his first memory after the accident, which Dr. Stein said is common after traumatic brain injuries.</p><p>He said he remembered two of his friends coming to visit him at the beginning of his stay.</p><p>“They came the day before we left the hospital,” Jenifer Arellano reminded Adrian.</p><p>But Adrian's sometimes foggy memory and physical recovery is not the biggest strain on the Arellano family.</p><p>Jenifer has not worked since Adrian's accident, and J.J. took several weeks off so he could stay by his son's bedside at All Children's.</p><p>Although the family missed out on several weeks worth of pay, medical bills continue to pile up.</p><p>“Even with insurance, one of the tests he has to get next week is a couple hundred dollars,” Jenifer Arellano said.</p><p>Adrian's grandmother set up a donation website for the family to help ease their financial burden.</p><p>Still, Jenifer and J.J. still find ways to keep Adrian engaged with his friends between his ongoing MRI scans and check-ups.</p><p>He will not start his freshman year at Venice High School until Sept. 4 and cannot play with the school's football team again for the foreseeable future.</p><p>That could not keep him off the field during one of the freshman football team's first games at Booker High School last Wednesday evening.</p><p>The Venice High School freshmen team gave Adrian a jersey with the number 11 emblazoned on the back. He was tasked with tossing balls to the referee before each play.</p><p>As Adrian detailed the Venice offensive line to an onlooker, a Venice wide receiver caught a 20-yard catch and was pummeled by Booker defensive players.</p><p>Adrian looked up with a grin on his face.</p><p>“I would have broken that tackle,” he joked.</p>